Chapter 198: Kuchitotsu Zabuza, Recruiting Kimimaro

Chapter 198: Kuchitotsu Zabuza, Recruiting Kimimaro

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"You're no match for me."

"Even if everyone here combined, it's just a warm-up before the dance."

Haneda swung his Executioner's Blade, cutting through, then looked towards the Anbu ninjas of Kirigakure.

"I'm giving you two choices: either leave as if you saw nothing, or die here."

Haneda glanced deliberately towards the mountain where he had been earlier.

At this moment, a person wearing a yellow spiral mask and a red cloud cloak stood there, quietly observing the scene.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Fourth Mizukage approached.

"Now is not the time to fight. Let's go."

With that, the Fourth Mizukage led the even more confused Anbu from Kirigakure away from here.

Haneda smiled and said:

"So you've been watching all along, Obito."

Obito remained silent, using his Kamui to disappear into the mountain.

Seeing that Obito was still hiding from him, Haneda smiled again and looked towards Zabuza, who was cautiously watching him.

"Do you know why the Anbu are hunting you?"

"They leaked your information from the underground trading post. They betrayed you."

"And the Kirigakure are the same; they treat you as a rogue ninja, nothing more."

"Why would you make such sacrifices for a village like this?"

"What's it to you! If you want to kill, then kill!" Zabuza shouted.

Perhaps out of too much emotion, Zabuza coughed several times, even coughing up a mouthful of black blood.

He was poisoned.

The Anbu of Kirigakure showed no mercy to their former comrade.

"You're going to die."

Haneda approached Zabuza, watching as the weakened Zabuza struggled to strike at him.

But the weak Zabuza fell powerless to the ground.

"After you die, your village will celebrate the death of this rogue ninja."

"And the goals you fought for will also cease to move forward."

Haneda crouched down, looking into Zabuza's eyes, continuing:

"I heard my nephew say something: people only truly see themselves in their final moments."

"And what kind of person are you?"

Haneda inserted his Executioner's Blade in front of Zabuza's eyes.

"As a Kirigakure ninja, you had to kill your comrades, and as a rogue ninja, you had to kill your comrades."

"You attempted a coup to change the village."

"You raised funds, sweeping everything again."

"But what can you ultimately change? Even if you succeed, it's just overthrowing the Blood Mist policy; ninjas are still tools."

"And the essence of ninjas hasn't changed; Kirigakure ninjas still kill their comrades according to the rules, just like your first half of life."

Zabuza lifted his eyes, staring intensely at Haneda.

Every word Haneda said felt like tiny needles piercing his heart.

He felt his life slipping away, death approaching.

And the goals he had worked towards were fading away.

Because, as Haneda said, the essence of ninjas made the goals he fought for disappear at the end.

"Join me, follow me."

"I will change the ninja system, reform the entire world."

Haneda reached out to Zabuza.

Zabuza watched Haneda's sun-patterned eyes gradually dilate.

At this moment, light pierced through the thick fog shrouding the village, reaching his face, his eyes.

"Alright."

Zabuza subconsciously replied.

...

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**Not far from Kirigakure's territory, the Kaguya clan's coup was ending under the strangling pressure of Kirigakure.**

Kimimaro looked at the fallen clan members in the valley, not leaving a single one.

Along with the clan's land, a large fire ignited by Kirigakure burned everything down.

His prison, where he was held, was also destroyed.

All the people and things that recorded his past had vanished in this coup.

Kimimaro had completely become an orphan.

No parents, no clan members.

No one needed him anymore, no one cared about him.

Half-asleep, Kimimaro wandered to an inconspicuous corner.

He squatted down, hugging his legs, lowering his head.

At this moment, a flower quietly bloomed in front of him.

The flower was so bright, exuding incomparable beauty.

Kimimaro stared at the blooming flower, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he lifted his bone blade, preparing to cut off the fresh flower in front of him.

"In such a remote place, where no one appreciates it, what's the point of blooming where no one cares!"

A hand grabbed his small, knife-wielding hand, and a gentle voice echoed in his ear.

"You saw it; the flower exists for a reason."

"Just like I found you."

A warm hand stroked Kimimaro's cheek. He looked up to see Haneda's face slightly blushing.

"If you can't find the meaning of your existence, then I'll give you one for now."

Haneda lowered his head to look at the blooming flower, smiling.

"Just as this flower blooms for you, let it bloom for me too, even if briefly."

"Alright," Kimimaro replied, his face flushed.

Until a beautiful child approached Haneda, who patted the child's hair. Kimimaro's gaze instantly became vigilant.

"My name is Bai, nice to meet you," Bai greeted Kimimaro softly.

Seeing this, Kimimaro snorted coldly, "Kaguya Kimimaro."

...

---

After saving Zabuza, Haneda assigned him a mission.

To take down the underground black market in Kirigakure.

Whether it was for personal vengeance or to eliminate the village's evil, Zabuza firmly executed this mission.

Of course, he also received unexpected news.

That was, the reason Kirigakure had discovered and hunted him down was because Haneda spent ten million to have the black market leak information about him.

And Haneda sent him to do the black market!

This made Zabuza feel Haneda's trust, and he respected Haneda even more.

But what Zabuza didn't know was that he had already been marked with the Flying Thunder God seal.

If Zabuza betrayed Haneda or left alone, Haneda would instantly appear by his side to kill him, preventing any future threats.

In short, Haneda's reform plan absolutely couldn't be leaked.

Even if Zabuza only knew a small part.

Zabuza, holding his Executioner's Blade, now repaired after draining blood, returned to the cave where Haneda was hiding.

At this moment, inside the cave, Haneda was roasting meat over a fire.

Beside him were two hungry children.

One was Bai, whom Zabuza had met earlier, and the other was a white-haired boy with a faint murderous aura.

"Haneda-san, I've already completed the tasks you assigned."

Zabuza placed the black market leader's corpse down.

At the same time, he tore open a sealed scroll.

A suitcase full of silver bills fell to the ground.

Haneda took up the suitcase he had previously given to the black market, containing ten million in cash, and sealed it into a scroll.

Haneda instructed:

"The rest, you handle yourself."

"I will go to Ryūchi Cave to train, and you have new tasks."

"Ryūchi Cave?" As an elite of Kirigakure, Zabuza naturally knew what Ryūchi Cave was.

It was one of the three great holy sites!

Currently, the inheritors in the ninja world were all renowned strong individuals!

Zabuza was surprised for a moment and asked:

"What mission requires so much money?"

Haneda replied: "First, go to the Land of Bears, take out the star hidden in Hoshin village, and deliver it to me."

"Second, seek out the mysterious country of Loulan hidden in the Land of Wind, and inquire about the dragon vein's information for me."

"You don't need to be stingy with the money. Hire ninjas as needed."

"Ninjas from Kirigakure won't bother you during this period."

Dealing with a small ninja village and searching for a mysterious country required a lot of money, so Zabuza understood.

But Kirigakure ninjas wouldn't bother him for a while, and Zabuza didn't understand why.

After all, he was a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, being relentlessly hunted by the Anbu!

Though confused, Zabuza still accepted the mission, bid farewell, and left.

He was going to fight for himself, and for Haneda-san's dream to reform the world!

...

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**End of Chapter 198**

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